Jack here, writing for the blog today while Jeanine writes for the book…

I have something to admit that I’m having a hard time with. I’m starting to prefer vegan “mac and cheese” to actual mac and cheese. Now, this is a hard one for me. You see, I love cheese. Almost every time we go to Whole Foods, I raid the “under $3 cheese” bin to find crazy new cheeses that I can barely pronounce. And a great grilled cheese is work of art.

But these vegan “mac and cheese” recipes Jeanine comes up with pretty much hit everything I need out of mac and cheese. This one is as creamy as mac and cheese could ever get, the paprika and turmeric give it an incredible depth of flavor, and the spinach gives it the right amount of texture. I honestly can’t get enough…

In a small skillet, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the shallot and garlic and sauté until soft, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika and balsamic vinegar and cook another 30 seconds.

In a high speed blender, puree the sautéed shallot mixture with the cashews, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, the water, nutritional yeast, cayenne and turmeric (if using). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes about 1 ¾ cups of sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the package, cooking until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain and return the pasta to the pot. Stir in the sauce, adding the pasta water as needed to thin the sauce and make it creamy. Add the spinach, stir until wilted, season to taste, and serve.

I used to have a wonderful goat family, milked and made cheese, so at that time we were vegetarian. But that world showed me how dairy animals are very much mistreated, even the University husbandry programs are much less humane than you would want to know about. So when giving up cheese (and all dairy) feel good that you aren’t contributing to the terrible cycle of birth & death involved with most dairying. This mac & sauce dish is very nice, good comfort food!

Wow, this was an amazing meal. I used blanched broccoli instead of spinach because I prefer the bulk and crunch it adds. Otherwise it’s just a perfect recipe. My husband is partial to the traditional mac & cheese but he loved this. This is topping my “go-to comfort food” list!

Wow, this was an amazing meal. I used blanched broccoli instead of spinach because I prefer the bulk and crunch it adds. Otherwise it’s just a perfect recipe. My husband is partial to the traditional mac & cheese but he loved this. This is topping my “go-to comfort food” list!

Hi Jessica – yep, the sauce is great leftover – I keep it separate though. I basically make as much pasta as the 2 of us want to eat, scoop on as much sauce as I want and store the rest in the fridge in a sealed container for 3-4 days. It’ll thicken some, but the next time you make it, add enough pasta water to thin it out.

– if you don’t have a vitamix (or blendtec or similar), you might need to add a little more water or olive oil and blend longer (up to a minute), until your sauce is creamy. Be sure to soak your cashews, that’ll help too (although I usually shortcut that).

– when you combine your sauce with your pasta be sure to add lots of the hot starchy pasta water as you go – stir it in until it’s creamy. This helps the sauce from being sort of lumpy to really loosening up over the pasta. (In the instructions, I list up to 1 cup, which feels like a lot but this trick really works for me).

What would you suggest using in place of the starchy water when using gluten free pasta? The brown rice pasta always produces a sludge that I don’t imagine would be conducive to thickening the sauce. Would corn pasta work, or maybe making an arrowroot flour and water mixture to add in? Thanks in advance!

A good mac and cheese is as fine as any fine dining experience, and all the better in the in case because it is actually good for us, too. Please send Jeannine best wishes on the writing. We look forward with eager anticipation the result of her kitchen and computer labours!

I’ll have to try this sometime when my husband is out of town. He usually overseas my cheese addition to regular mac & cheese to make sure that I add enough! A healthier, non-cheese option is very, very interesting! Thanks for all the tips in the other comments, I’m sure they will come in handy! – Charlie, http://www.lemonbutterlove.com

I just had my mind blown!!! I made this mac & cheese for dinner and it was amazing – both me and my boyfriend really enjoyed it despite both being enthusiastic “real” cheese eaters. It is super creamy and has lots of flavor. I added broccoli as well so the ratio of veggies and pasta was 1:1 – so yummy! Thanks for this great recipe

I really love Mac and cheese & I love spinach!
I also want to eat a bit healthier.
So I am really happy that you showed me a way to combine all of the above.
I think it looks really tasty! Even my little sister (who doesn’t like spinach) might agree.
And on top of that all it is really healthy, It doesn’t look like it is really hard to make and you can find all of the ingredients in most of the regular supermarkets.
To me, maybe the best thing of all is that it is a vegetarian dish.
I read just about everywhere that eating vegetarian dishes more often is really good in lots of ways. It is good because I don’t have to feel sorry for those sweet animals that are killed to feed us. And eating vegetarian is told to be much healthier.
So I will definitely try to prepare this meal and I really want to thank for your great advice and recipe.
P.S.: This is a task for school.

I made this last night, and it was excellent! My first foray into vegan “cheese” sauces, and it did not disappoint — very creamy and flavorful. It did remind me more of an alfredo sauce than a cheddar cheese sauce, but it was delicious. I made it with whole wheat fusilli pasta, too, which was a good combo.

This recipe looks amazing! I really like what you are doing with your blog. If you get a minute I would love for you to checkout our list of the Best Cooking Blogs that features your blog Love and Lemons http://www.listsforall.com/best-cooking-blogs/. Keep up the good work!

Made this today and I will try it again without the turmeric. I only used 1 tsp but it is a very strong flavor that just doesn’t agree with me. Loved how creamy it was though. Very simple and quick. I added broccoli and it was perfect.

We made this tonight. One of my daughter’s has a dairy intolerence/allergy and I wanted some kind of creamy pasta soooo badly but can’t usually make anything like that. This was a big hit. Super ridiculously easy, packed with protein, and the kids loved it too. Very filling and cheap. Thank you!

This is the second recipe I tried from you. The first was the vegan carrot cake (which was out of this world) and so I decided I wanted to give another recipe a shot. I’ve been lactose intolerant for over three years now and have been vegan for awhile so let’s just say I haven’t had any mac & cheese for a very long time. This was AMAZING. I made it last night and it was probably one of the tastiest meals I’ve ever whipped up. I will definitely be trying another recipe soon because so far every single one has been right on the money!

Your recipes are the best! I’ve been hankering to try this a long time and finally read the full recipe. I’m not a fan of strong balsamic vinegar—do you think it could be left out, subbed for apple cider vinegar, or could you reassure me that it doesn’t end up tasting like a balsamic sauce? 🙂

Ha! it doesn’t taste like balsamic sauce, but if you’re worried about it you can skip it or maybe just add less to be on the safe side (say 1 teaspoon instead of a tablespoon). Let me know how it goes!

I made this recipe last night; it’s the best vegan mac & cheese recipe I’ve ever made! I thought the spinach might be a bit weird in it, but it was quite tasty and added a nice little crunchiness to the dish. The smoked paprika is an excellent addition, too. This definitely gets a “Yum!”

I made this recently and thought it was delicious! I was a little apprehensive about presenting it to my cheese-loving husband, selling it as “pasta with a creamy cashew-based sauce” rather than calling it vegan mac and cheese, but of course he devoured it. Thank you for sharing <3

An update: I froze half of the sauce for a couple of weeks, thawed it in the refrigerator for a day, and reheated it over low-ish heat on the induction cooktop. We cooked pasta, added the heated sauce, stirred in fresh chopped spinach, and it tasted just like it was made fresh. Extra convenient for weeknight dinners!

Modifications to the sauce: I added a Tablespoon of light miso paste, and more water (we settled on 1-1/4 C) to make the sauce a bit thinner.

I shared this recipe with meat-eating friends…I wasn’t sure if they would like it, but they loved it! They thought it tasted a bit like curry.

Thanks. I dry sauté onion and garlic all the time in a good stainless pan without oil and do add a bit of water/or broth as needed to keep veggies from sticking but not enough to steam them. It works out fine. Thanks for you reply. Diane

First of all, this was delicious! But, I think it should not be called Mac and Cheese. It really tastes nothing like it at all. Needless to say, I’ll make this again and again because we loved it. Thank you!